Difficult start/ bad catalytic converter?
My 07 Aveo5 has been having issues starting, but only after it has been sitting for several hours. I have to pump the gas for a while to get it to start. It will start just fine if it's been off for a short amount of time. The CEL is currently on, throwing a P0420 code, which I know is the catalytic converter. I checked older posts but I didn't seem to find any with a bad start and a cat code.
I've gotten quite a bit of work done in the last 9 months or so, including:
-water pump/ timing belt replacement (went in for an oil change and the water pump gave out in the parking lot of the shop)
-new spark plugs, wires and head gasket (taken in because it was idling rough)
-new coil pack (right after getting new plugs because it was idling worse)
-tie rods and front struts (expensive)
-brake light switch (changed that myself thanks to a post on the forums!)
I took it to an exhaust place and they want $600 for a new cat. They didn't mention what was actually wrong with it. Is it possible that the cat is the reason my car isn't starting? I've tried turning the ignition to 'on' and listening for the fuel pump, I can't hear anything, but I don't really know what I'm listening for. Unfortunately I've only tried this after the initial cold start. According to my mechanically-inclined friend, it smells like it's running rich, but I've only noticed that after the initial difficult start.
I haven't noticed any temp changes and performance seems to be pretty much the same. MPG might be a bit lower, but it's always lower when I use the heat. Got the oil changed about 2,500 miles ago.
This car has over 218k miles on it, but it's fully paid off and I'm pretty attached, so I'd like to get a little bit more life out of him. Any insight or suggestions would be very appreciated!
